Here at Last Movie Outpost, or glorious Outposters (that’s you guys) have tended to be ahead of the curve on just about everything movie and streaming related. The wisdom of the Disqus remains largely undefeated.
You were right about superhero fatigue, you have been on the money about flops and hits. You were also entirely correct when you started talking about the streaming model being unsustainable in its current form.
Another voice is added to yours now, as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has said the same. He’s already bringing Max and HBO closer together. Now, he says, the consolidation and combination of the streaming landscape is about to accelerate.
He was in Idaho ahead of the Allen & Co Conference (read: company-funded summer camp for billionaires and senior executives) when he spoke to CNBC and he said much more merger activity is on the horizon.
The ink is barely dry on Paramount & Skydance, but he says partnerships and bundling agreements are the way forward.
Called it again, LMO. They really are going to reinvent cable and then tell you it’s a new thing! He said:
“[Over the next two years] we are going to see some real consolidation, whether that happens from companies buying each other, or jointly going after streaming together.”
Warners are in the game. They have the Venu sports streaming joint venture spinning up with Disney and Fox. There have also been rumors that Warner Bros. Discovery were open to exploring a joint streaming venture with Paramount prior to the Skydance acquisition.
Could that now resurface?
Either way, I won’t be holding my breath about any prices coming down.